


Employee Discount

by iaminarage



Category: Glee
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, lots of fluff, retail work, vaguely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9514172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iaminarage/pseuds/iaminarage
Summary: There are few things more exhausting than working at Macy's on the last Saturday before Christmas. Luckily, Kurt has his coworker, Sebastian, to keep him on his toes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently this took a village! Thanks to dievampiredie and digopheliadug for holding my hand, helping me figure out the ending, and encouraging me! And thanks to Scout451 for doing the proof reading.

Kurt rang up the last customer to the tune of $300 and then sighed and dropped his head. He'd just rung out 30 people in a row, and his head was spinning. It was the last Saturday before Christmas, and Macy's was absolutely insane. This was the first chance he'd had to breathe in the first three hours of his shift.

“Holy fuck,” Sebastian said, dropping down onto the chair next to Kurt. “I swear to god, the next time some clueless husband asks me to help him pick out a gift for his wife, I'm going to stab myself.”

“Just don't do it where I can see you,” Kurt deadpanned. “I bet that would involve a lot of paperwork.”

“Your compassion is touching,” Sebastian replied, shooting Kurt a grin. “Maybe I'll remember you in my will.”

Kurt smiled back at him and hoped that Sebastian couldn't tell how his heart rate had just picked up. He reminded himself that it was only a smile. And it was a smile from his coworker, who Kurt absolutely couldn't crush on.

“If Sue sees you sitting down on the clock, she's going to eviscerate you,” Kurt said. He and Sebastian were pretty sure that their manager, Sue Sylvester, was Satan.

Sebastian groaned, but he dragged himself to his feet. “Sue Sylvester can suck my dick.”

Kurt blushed lightly and tried to banish the highly inappropriate image of Sebastian that had popped into his head. “I seriously doubt either of you would enjoy that.”

Sebastian snorted. “It's a bit of a nightmare inducing thought, isn't it?”

Just then a harassed looking man approached the desk. The man was fairly young, probably in his mid to late 20s, and very cute. He was toting a little girl on his hip.

“I’m so sorry,” the man said to Sebastian. “Can you help me? I need to find a present for my wife.”

Kurt just barely held back a laugh. He caught Sebastian switching into Good Customer Service Person mode out of the corner of his eye. By all rights, from the way Sebastian talked, he should be terrible at this job, but he actually wasn’t. He was a wiz at helping customers find exactly what they wanted. Kurt was better when someone wanted a critical eye for clothes, but Sebastian was the one who was really good with people.

Sebastian patiently asked the man what he was looking for and what kind of things his wife liked. When he asked the man about size, the reply he got was, “I think she’s a four. Or maybe an 8? I know it was an even number.” Kurt had to duck down and pretend to look for a new role of receipt tape so that the customer wouldn’t see him laughing.

“Let’s go look at the sweaters,” Sebastian said decisively. Before he left, he turned to look down at Kurt. “You might want to stand up. The hoard is approaching.”

Kurt rose to his feet and saw that Sebastian was right. Someone had just stepped into his line and he could see three other people who looked like they were looking for a register. He put his best retail smile on and said, “Did you find everything you were looking for?”

It took Sebastian 20 minutes to come back with the man and his toddler. As Sebastian began ringing the man up, Kurt found himself with a break in between customers. Kurt glanced over and saw that the little girl was watching him as she sucked her thumb. Kids weren’t totally Kurt’s thing, but he had to admit she was adorable. He waved at her, and she let go of her father’s shirt with one hand just long enough to wave back at him.

Sebastian cashed the man out and said, “Have a great holiday!” The man thanked him profusely for his help before readjusting his daughter on his hip and grabbing his very large bag.

As he turned to walk away, the little girl looked back over her father’s shoulder to wave goodbye to Kurt. Kurt smiled and waved back at her, before turning to make fun of Sebastian, but his comment died on his lips when he saw Sebastian glaring at him.

“Really Kurt?” Sebastian asked. “You’re not distracting enough on your own? You have to go and be cute with a toddler?”

Kurt squinted at Sebastian. “Distracting?”

“I nearly double scanned a pair of slippers the first time you waved at her,” Sebastian replied, and then started angrily rearranging the stack of flyers in front of him.

Kurt honestly had no idea what Sebastian was trying to say, but he was starting to get pissed off. “Well I’m sorry working with me is such a _trial_ for you Sebastian. Silly me. I was under the impression that we had fun together.”

Sebastian turned to him in shock, but before he could say anything, an older woman came up to them holding two pairs of mittens – one royal blue and one grey. “Which do you think will look better with a black coat?”

“The blue,” Sebastian and Kurt replied in tandem.

“I guess it must be the blue!” The woman said, as she started piling her chosen items on the counter next to Kurt.

When Kurt finished ringing her up and she walked away, Sebastian sighed. “We do have fun, Kurt. Too much fun. Sometimes you just make it hard to remember that…”

Sebastian trailed off and Kurt glanced over to see him resolutely trying to clean dirt out of the keyboard on his register. “Hard to remember what?” Kurt asked gently.

“That I’m…” Sebastian took a deep breath as if stealing himself for something. “That I’m not supposed to be falling for you.”

Kurt’s breath caught, and he felt like his heart had stopped. There was no way Sebastian could have feelings for him. Things never worked out that way for Kurt. “You’re … falling for me?” He asked tentatively.

Sebastian nodded, and scraped harder at the spot on his keyboard that wouldn’t come off. “Yeah, because I’m a fucking idiot. I’m sorry.”

Before Kurt could reply, another customer came up, and that seemed to set off a deluge. For an hour, Kurt and Sebastian were both ringing up customers without a moment’s break. For once, Kurt wished his job were more difficult. It was far too easy to ring the register and wish customers a happy holiday while still freaking out over what Sebastian had said and why on earth he’d apologize for liking Kurt.

When the line finally cleared, Kurt turned back to Sebastian. “Why would having feelings for me make you an idiot?”

Sebastian gave him a startled look. “I mean, you have a boyfriend … don’t you?”

“I have a what?” Kurt asked, knowing he sounded stupid. Kurt was 20 years old and he’d _never_ had a real boyfriend. He had no idea where Sebastian had gotten such a crazy idea.

“That guy you live with?” Sebastian said, and now he’d started looking confused. “Finn?”

“ _Finn?_ ” Kurt burst out laughing. Even when he saw a customer approaching, he couldn’t manage to catch his breath and be professional.

“Apparently someone told a good joke,” the customer, a teenage girl, said as she piled her purchases onto the table.

Sebastian started ringing her up as he said, “I think it was me, but I don't know what the joke is.”

The girl laughed. “Oh man, he's laughing _at_ you, not with you. Rough luck!”

Kurt shook his head and slowly pulled himself together as Sebastian finished up the transaction. As soon as she was gone, Kurt said, “Finn isn't my boyfriend, he's my brother!”

“I must have missed the family resemblance,” Sebastian grumbled. Then he seemed to process what Kurt was saying. “Wait, you're single? Does that mean…”

“It means there's no good reason for you not to like me. Especially since I like you, too.”

“Holy shit!” Sebastian said. His eyes snapped up to meet Kurt’s, and he started to smile. “Kurt!”

Kurt couldn't help grinning along with Sebastian. He felt like he could jump out of his skin. For the first time in his life, a boy he really liked him back. He just wished they weren't at work right now.

A shrill voice rang out across the women's department. “Why are there dresses wrinkling all over my floor?”

“Shit. Sue!” Kurt said.

“On my way, Sue!” Sebastian shouted back, and Kurt winced.

Sure enough, a second later they heard, “Don't shout across my store!”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “What time do you get off work?”

“Five, but I have rehearsal at six. You?”

“Five. Let's talk after? Do you have time before your rehearsal?” Sebastian asked, reaching over and giving Kurt's hand a squeeze.

“I'll make time.” Kurt squeezed back. “Now go before she kills you.”

Sebastian took Kurt’s words to heart and sped off in the direction of Sue’s voice.

Kurt gave himself a moment to grin to himself before he asked a woman nearby if she needed help.

#

At five o’clock exactly, both Kurt and Sebastian punched out and went to the staff room to gather their coats before heading out onto the brisk New York evening. Normally Kurt and Sebastian talked every free second they had, but right now they were oddly quiet - the silence laden with everything they were waiting to say.

As soon as they were out the door, Sebastian let his fingers brush down Kurt’s arm before taking Kurt’s hand. “How about I walk you to the subway?”

Kurt nodded, but he felt like all of the blood in his body had suddenly been directed to his fingers, like every part of his body was numb, except where Sebastian’s skin touched his. It took him a moment to piece his thoughts together into words. “Do you want to get dinner tomorrow?”

“Are you asking me on a date, Kurt Hummel?” Sebastian teased.

“I'm just using you for your Macy’s discount,” Kurt shot back.

Sebastian laughed and gave Kurt’s hand a tug to get him to stop and face him. They'd already made it to Kurt’s station, Harold Square.

“I'll text you about tomorrow?” Sebastian asked.

Kurt nodded, and reached out to take Sebastian’s other hand. He wasn't quite feeling brave enough to make a move, but he was sort of hoping Sebastian might take the hint and do it for him.

To his immense relief, Sebastian seemed to get the message. He pulled Kurt one step closer and leaned in close, giving Kurt a second to pull away. Kurt closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together softly.

This was far from Kurt’s first kiss, but it was the first time a kiss had ever felt anything more than nice. It only lasted a second, but when Kurt pulled away, he knew he was blushing and grinning like an idiot.

Thankfully, Sebastian was smiling back at him just as brightly. “You have to go,” Sebastian said, loosening his hold on Kurt’s hands.

Kurt sighed and let his hands fall, stuffing them in his pockets for lack of a better place to put them. “I suppose I do. But I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Sebastian leaned in quickly and pressed a kiss to Kurt’s cheek. Kurt didn’t even have time to react before Sebastian was gone.

Kurt stood by the entrance to the station for the moment, holding one hand against his cheek and feeling like a complete cliché. The most ridiculous part was that he didn’t even mind.


End file.
